A bar owner in Newport, Stephen Reynolds, claims he has been fined 96 times by Newport City Council for parking outside his bar to unload stock, resulting in a fine of over £3,300.
Reynolds has had his bar, Slipping Jimmy’s, on Newport High Street for the past 10 years. However, since Newport Council pedestrianised the road and restricted access for businesses to unload stock to between 6am and 10am in July 2020, he has accumulated a large number of parking tickets, each costing at least £35.
Reynolds claims that he cannot return from his supplier in Cardiff, which opens at 9am, in time to unload his barrels by 10am and is fined by parking attendants if he is even a minute over.
Reynolds has tried to appeal the fines, arguing that he has no other viable options than the loading bay and that there are no obvious time limit warnings, but has never been successful.
Despite parking in a designated loading bay under the NCP car park at Queensway in the city centre, which is just yards away from his bar and has no signs warning of a time limit, Reynolds is still fined for parking in the bay.
He stated that attendants tell him it is because he is taking too long to unload. Reynolds says his struggles are shared by other bar workers on the street and is an added pressure on business owners at an already difficult time.
The loading bay where Reynolds currently unloads and where he is often fined for “taking too long” could be turned into a cycle lane as part of significant plans to transform Newport’s Old Green roundabout.
If these plans go ahead, Reynolds says it will leave his business in an impossible situation.
Reynolds has changed suppliers where he can because they cannot park, but he is still being fined for the stock he has to pick up from Cardiff.
He says he is finding it difficult to operate his business, and that bands are cancelling on him because they cannot park to unload their gear.
A spokesperson for Newport Council said that restrictions on vehicles accessing the pedestrianised High Street have been in place for a number of years, and the hours of access were changed to 6am to 10am each day to improve safety for visitors.
The spokesperson added that enforcement continues to take place, and a consultation is taking place on major travel improvements in the city centre.
The council has encouraged people to have their say before the deadline on April 6. There is also another loading bay available in Bridge Street between the hours of 7am and 7pm, which can be used by those making deliveries.
Overall, Reynolds finds himself in an impossible position and is in need of understanding. He has had at least three run-ins a month with the council since the street became pedestrianised, and he is averaging three tickets a month, which has been going on since it has been pedestrianised. The constant fines are costing him a lot of money, and he feels that his business is being seriously affected.
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